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What Was That Big Bang?

Iran seems to be moving toward an atomic bomb; North Korea reportedly could build a half dozen; and terrorist attacks have revived the specter of a faceoff between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India. Yet the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty , forbidding nuclear testing, has failed to win ratification from the U.S. Senate and lawmakers of some other nations. Opponents say scientists cannot reliably detect clandestine tests: Why should we go along, if others can cheat?

Richards has served as a U.S. expert on nuclear arms since the 1980s; Kim heads the instrument network that monitors earthquakes and other seismic phenomena (including the 2001 collapse of the World Trade Center) across the northeast United States. Among other pursuits, both have worked to decode once-secret seismic data from the northern archipelago of Novaya Zemlya and the central Asian republic of Kazakhstan recording Soviet-era bomb tests.

The piece comes at a critical time. In a major foreign policy speech given In Prague, Sunday April 5, President Obama stated his intent to work with the U.S. Senate to achieve ratification of the CTBT. A few days later, it was announced that Vice President Biden has been the given the responsibility to lead this effort. Richards and Kim write that the CTBT is “a vital step in strengthening global efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and a new nuclear arms race.”

To hear a discussion between Richards and Jorge Salazar of the popular radio program EarthSky, click here .